Monday, June 27, 2011

I have to admit that this is one of the sets I've purchased that I had the best of intentions of using but never got around to even using it until now that it is retiring! Grant and I had picked it out to use for Valentine's for his class, but for several reasons I never got around to making them so I bought the similar boxes (seen in this post) for him to use instead. This is what I would have liked the cards to have looked like if I had made them!

The images were stamped using my stamp-a-ma-jig and Jet Black StazOn ink on watercolour paper. They were all then coloured using my stampin' write markers and an aquapainter. I created a little shadow underneath the robots using crumb cake ink to match the main cardstock. The designer paper is from the Nursery Suite set that is also retiring and, as seen above, is not limited to baby crafts!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

I know it's a bit early for Christmas cards, but it is exactly 6 months away now! Plus, the super cute Sparkly & Bright stamp set is retiring.

I decided to CASE this beautiful card by Stacey - I've had it in my favourites folder forever! I wanted to make it a standard size card instead of square because I don't have any satin red ribbon and I thought having a large card with skinny ribbon would look kind of funny. I was so annoyed because after the card was all assembled and all I had left to do was adhere the bow, I smudged the middle reindeer! If you are as picky as me, then you know this means I will probably never give this card to anyone but I was too annoyed with myself to make another! Maybe later!

It's a little hard to tell in the photo, but the one nose is coloured red,then covered with crystal effects and dazzling diamond glitter.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Here's a card to send of the retiring set Lots of Bots. The ribbon and celebrations dsp are also retiring.

The robots were first stamped in black ink on whisper white paper and coloured using the various ink colours and blender pens. The middle part of the robot was then stamped again but this time in StazOn ink on watercolour paper, then wartercoloured with my stampin' write markers and aquapainter. Once coloured, they were cut out with my paper snips and glued on to the original stamped images.

The sentiment on the stamp was initially not coloured when I stamped the robots. Instead, I inked it up alone afterwards and used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up at the top where I wanted it!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Time to say goodbye to the super cute set Greetings, Earthling before it retires.

This card is made using this months SFYTT. I stamped the aliens/monsters in Jet Black StazOn ink on watercolour paper, then used my aquapainter to paint them using the main colours in the also retiring celebrations dsp. I really enjoy watercolouring and have just started trying it out on stamped images that are not just flowers. I think it turned out quite well! The grass line was just made freehand using my basic black Stampin' write marker.

For my sentiment, I used a retired set from Sale-A-Bration several years ago, called Birthday Whimsy. For all the birthday stamp sets I have, none of the fonts seemed to suit this image, they were all too "pretty" looking! Guess I know what I'll have to buy from the upcoming catalogue!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Eastern Blooms has definitely been one of my favourite sets since I got it in 2008 so I will be sad to see it go. I recently posted this paradise card set that I modified from the original inspiration piece that had been made using the eastern blooms set (as seen here). Well, I liked it so much I made the eastern blooms version again but swapped out the colours, designer papers (to feature the retiring elegant soiree dsp) and sentiments.

Here's a closer look at each of the individual cards. You can again click on any of the images to enlarge them.

My favourite is definitely the last card in all versions I've made of it! I just love that layout!

Friday, June 10, 2011

Today I thought I would share cards made with the retiring stamp set Baby Steps. It was definitely my go to baby set this year because those elephants are too cute!

Here's the baby boy version

And the baby girl version

I really wanted the attention to be on the image so I didn't even use any designer paper. For the same reason, I kept the embellishments to a minimum. I still had to stick to quite a few layers though! I substituted the bow for a button in the second because I just couldn't get the 5/8" satin ribbon to make a bow that was both small enough for the space and pretty!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Since posting the last chance lists on June 1, I have decided to make cards for this month that feature retiring items that are some of my favourites! Today, I'm sharing items made with the Paradise stamp set and Woodland Walk dsp. I also recently discovered The Paper Players challenge blog and found that this weeks challenge #50 coincides perfectly with my need to make thank you cards for people who have donated towards my volunteer nursing trip to Haiti! Click on the photo to enlarge it for clarity!

Some of you may recognize the layouts and designs here as I used them previously in this post (which also features the soon to retire set Eastern Blooms).

Here's a closer look at each of the cards individually. Click on any of the photos to enlarge them (they appear a bit fuzzy until they are blown up).

I'm sad to see this leaf set go - it was one of my go to sets for masculine cards, but at least I will still have the Autumn Splendor leaf set to use!

The background stamp on the main panels is the grassy image from the set Inspired by Nature. I also used the linen thread for a more natural look to go along with the leaves, grass and woodgrain (plus it keeps them a bit more masculine than ribbon).

It's also hard to tell but these cards have a lot of dimension. All of the leaves are raised up on dimensionals and all of the sentiment panels are raised as well.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Here's a card I made about a month ago that I forgot to post.
I CASEd this beautiful card by Mary Fish when I was having a complete lack of stamping mojo, though I don't think I did the card much justice.

The colours don't come through well in this photo but they are pear pizzazz and early espresso. I changed the sentiment so it was just straight as opposed to having an oval at the end because I personally am not an oval fan.

I despise the placement of the brads on this card. I wish I had paid more attention so that they were centered between the right edge of the pear pizzazz cardstock and the right edge of the main panel. Probably one of those things only fellow crafters notice, but it drives me crazy!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

It's been a while since I participated in any of the Mojo Monday sketch challenges but I really liked the Mojo193 sketch so I gave it a try.

I love the way this card turned out. The colours are so bright but also make a perfect masculine card. I only used a little strip of ribbon and decided to use a corduroy button instead of making a bow to keep it a bit more masculine. Maybe I'm the only one that thinks bows make it more girly!

I really hope that SU brings back this cupcake stamp set in the new catalogue available July 1! SU did carry over the build a cupcake punch so it is still currently available but unfortunately this stamp set isn't. Check out this flyer to see other items from the Occasions Mini Catalogue that are carried over and still available for purchase.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

It's that time of year when Stampin' Up! releases its last chance lists. These items will only be available until June 30 or while supplies last to make room for new products in the upcoming 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalogue! Sad to see some of my favourites will be going.

Click here to view the last chance stamp sets (available until June 30)

Click here to view the last chance accessories list (available while supplies last). Some items are even discounted 25-40%!

Click here to view the last chance definitely decorative list (available until June 30).

NOTE: Items that are being "reconfigured" as marked with an "*" are not going to retire. They are being modified (ex. new packaging, prices, resizing) for the new catalogue.